Bailey, Glasband among Darien runners to finish 9-Miler

Darien's Peter Bailey finished seventh in the Lightfoot Running Club's 9-mile race which started and finished at Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk on Saturday.

Darien's Peter Bailey finished seventh in the Lightfoot Running Club's 9-mile race which started and finished at Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk on Saturday.

Photo: Contributed Photo

Photo: Contributed Photo

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Darien's Peter Bailey finished seventh in the Lightfoot Running Club's 9-mile race which started and finished at Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk on Saturday.

Darien's Peter Bailey finished seventh in the Lightfoot Running Club's 9-mile race which started and finished at Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk on Saturday.

Photo: Contributed Photo

Bailey, Glasband among Darien runners to finish 9-Miler

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NORWALK -- Nine miles may seem like a lot of running for some, but for Darien 35-year-old Peter Bailey, it's just scratching the surface of the grueling endurance testing he'll put his body through this summer and fall.

Bailey finished seventh among 163 competitors in the Lightfoot Running Club's 9-mile race, which started and ended at Calf Pasture Beach, on Saturday morning -- completing the course in a time of 59:46. Bailey is training for a triathlon later this month, along with the ING New York City Marathon in November.

Bailey will run 10 miles, in addition to bicycling 40 miles and swimming 1.5 miles at the Park City Olympic Triathlon at Seaside Park in Bridgeport on Aug. 21. He will also run 26.2 miles in the New York City Marathon on Nov. 6.

Still, nine miles is nine miles -- and a lot of running, especially this time of year when heat waves and humidity are common. On Saturday, the runners lucked out with an 80-degree morning.

"There was a breeze out there. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Bailey said. "Nice breeze -- a nice course."

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The Lightfoot Running Club's third to last race in this year's series was also the 13th Annual Ian James Eaccarino Memorial 9-Mile Race for the benefit of the Courage to Speak Foundation. Representatives from the Courage to Speak Foundation, including CEO and founder Virginia Katz of Norwalk, were on hand to offer support and recognize runners who ran in memory of Eaccarino, Katz's son, whom she lost to a drug overdose at the age of 20 in 1996. He had worked at Calf Pasture Beach, and planted trees that line the beach and the 9-mile race course.

"It makes it all the more reason to get up, get out, and help out for a good cause," Bailey said.

The race was won by Norwalk's Eneas Freyre, 35, who completed the course in 51:21. Only seven runners came across the finish line in under an hour. Darien had strong representation, with Allison Glasband, 33, placing second among all women, and 13th overall in 1:03:57.

"It was great weather, and breezy so that was nice. It cooled it down a bit," Glasband said. "It was a great course."

Glasband, like Bailey, puts forth a lot of regular training to stay in great shape. She averages 25 to 30 miles of running per week, and notes that the structure of a race forces her to train harder than she might otherwise.

"It's hard to push yourself when you're not racing. Races help push you to increase your speed," Glasband said.